In any case it is a chicken and egg situation – offshore wind farm construction and maintenance operations require high-load capacity quays, plenty of heavy duty hard-standing for storage and assembly, a decent water depth, good access, and so on and on … Does a port invest millions in order to be ready for the opportunities, or does it hold back on investing until someone has signed on the dotted line?
Recent news from Liverpool shows how rocky the road of economic opportunity can be. Centrica has announced that it is withdrawing from the proposed multi-billion pound Celtic Array development, and that’s a big blow for the city.
Centrica held a licence to build 400 turbines in the Irish Sea, between the Isle of Man and Isle of Anglesey, in a joint venture with Denmark’s Dong Energy. It blamed “difficult sea bed conditions” and it seems the wind farm will now be scrapped.
Cammell Laird was one of around 140 Merseyside companies that had been expecting to win work in connection with the installation and maintenance of the Celtic Array, and it had already invested GBP10m ($16.58m) to adapt its facilities for wind power work. Chief executive John Syvret described the news as a bitter blow.
But as ever, the wheel of fortune continues to turn. Peel Ports, whose GBP300m Liverpool2 deepwater container terminal is under construction, has just announced details of some of the skilled roles that will be created when the new facility on the Mersey is finished in 2015.
Liverpool2 will create around 500 new jobs, says Peel, and it is now looking specifically for stevedores, pilots, launch crew, line handlers, plant operators, haulage administrators, vessel planning and supervision staff, as well as people in management, accounts and commercial services. The company has estimated that another 2,000 jobs will be created in the wider economy as a direct result of the new terminal.
Peel is committed to investing GBP350,000 in training and is working with a number of local colleges and universities in order to ensure there are enough skilled workers available.
Incidentally, Liverpool2, as one shipper recently commented, has been handed an extraordinary opportunity to capitalise on a “mistake” by authorities when drawing the map. The new Emission Control Areas that come into effect on 1 January 2015, covering the Baltic Sea, North Sea and Channel and requiring vessels to use fuels with a sulphur content of 0.1% or lower (or install scrubbers as an alternative), do not include the UK west coast and Irish Sea, putting ports such as Liverpool and Bristol at an interesting advantage, at least for the time being.
Who knows what new connections, via deepsea containership, feeders or overland links, may result?
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